Details of an exciting new event at Her Majesty's Theatre - 8th May 2011, hosted by Anneka Rice.

Television presenter Anneka Rice, who is perhaps best known for her 90s television show Challenge Anneka, will be appearing as the special guest host of the fifth Showtime Challenge. This year, the Challenge is to mount a production, complete with a full cast and orchestra, of Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend which will be rehearsed in 48 hours and then performed at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End at 7.30pm on Sunday 8 May 2011.

Anneka will appear on stage to introduce the special performance, which is being staged to raise money for The Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts, and be on-hand to support the cast and crew during the busy rehearsal period. On being invited to host the Challenge, Anneka said: “What a mad idea! I love it! It’s always great to make the seemingly crazy and impossible happen! Let’s put on a great show and enable more children to experience the magic of the arts.”

Children & the Arts champions the power of the arts to transform lives and strives towards a future where all children in the UK gain access to the arts. The Charity reaches out to the many children who, through social or economic disadvantage, are denied access to cultural venues and to high-quality arts activity. They have worked with over 100,000 children since 2006, and hope to substantially increase this figure over the next few years.

The Boy Friend was first performed in the West End in 1953. Set in the carefree world of the French Riviera in the Roaring 1920s, it is a light-hearted look at Polly Browne’s quest to find her happily ever after.